2 Timothy 4:5 NRSV

posted by Laura Jackson -

Apr 26, 2018

As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. (2 Timothy 4:5NRSV)Early Sunday morning October 30, 1983, a Mercedes truck laden with two thousand pounds of dynamite rolled past security barricades and crashed into the lobby of the headquarters of the Eighth Marine Battalion in Beirut, Lebanon. Seconds later the terrorist driver ignited the explosives and the building collapsed. Two hundred twenty-nine Marines died and eighty-one others were wounded. During a press conference that followed an investigation of the tragic incident, a reporter asked a general from the Pentagon how one man could get past such tight security and cause so much damage. The general replied: "In spite of our defensive weapons, it still is virtually impossible to stop those who are willing to die for what they believe."

St. Paul was such a man. He feared nothing. Why? He had already been crucified with Christ. The fear of death was no longer the debilitating hindrance it had once been. Neither was the fear of humiliation, or pain or rejection. He helped turn the world upside down because he was totally committed to the ministry to which God had called him.

How about you?

Dear God, I am weak. Be my strength as I become totally committed to your ministry. In Jesus name, Amen